It was entertaining story but didn't fell in love with it. I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. The writing style was good but the story dragged on I felt like. I would recommend it but not one of my favorite

Highly addictive read , I love holiday , tropical
Set thrillers and familial drama and this book ticked all these boxes. A slow burn stultifying in the heat of the Villa this drama played out exquisitely. Brilliant

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I have devoured this book in one sitting. Once I was pulled in, I couldn’t put it down. I was desperate to find out what was going on. Also, I didn’t want this books to end.

Everything about this book has been brilliant. I absolutely loved getting between the covers of this. This was everything I hoped for and so much more. This is a book which should be on everyone’s radar.

I absolutely recommend this book to other readers.

The Villa by Boyd was an interesting study into a horrible mother. I wanted to love this book, but I felt it was just okay.

This is not a thriller. It reads more like a contemporary novel.
It is still an ok read. It looks at family dynamics and is heartbreaking. It is just not what I was expecting

Enjoy the plot and storyline of this book. The characters are believable. I would read more books from the author in the future and recommend this book to my friends and family.

Nora is diagnosed with cancer and she wishes to spend some quality time with her family. She planned a two-week holiday with her family in a luxurious villa. Emma and Libby are excited that they can spend some time together, away from work and everything. Little do they know that their mother, Nora is going to announce her diagnosis once they gather in the villa. But that is not the only shocking news. Nora kept a guilty secret from her daughters that is unforgivable.

This is a family drama which gives me mixed feelings after reading it. I enjoy reading but dislike Nora's selfish character and behaviour, especially as a mother, which keeps me scratching my head. I would still recommend it to people who love reading family drama.

Thank you to #Bookouture and #NetGalley for letting me read this book.
A heartbreaking and totally addictive page-turner about motherhood at its best, and its worst, and the lies we tell to protect the ones we love.This is a good mystery read when you just want to relax.

A good read and kept me gripped after a slow start. I had assumed from the blurb that it would be more of a thriller but it wasn't. It's quite a slow burn and took me a little while to get into but I'm glad I persevered.

Another brilliant offering by a very talented author. I so need a holiday in my own life right now, and this book painted such a enthralling picture of a perfect rest and relaxation event. Really enjoyed the book and can't wait for Clare's next book.

Taken from the blurb: “One perfect family. Two weeks in the sun. A secret that will tear them apart. A heartbreaking and totally addictive page-turner about motherhood at its best, and its worst, and the lies we tell to protect the ones we love.”

So the above two quotes pretty much sum up what the story is all about, all except one thing and it’s a relatively big thing that I feel has been missed off and should have been somewhere within the book blurb and referred to as a trigger point. The trigger point being Cancer, one of the characters has cancer and a huge part of the story is centred around that. Now some readers find cancer hard to read about and certainly don’t want to come across it in stories if they can help it. So I do feel like this should have been made clear somewhere.

I for one probably would not have chosen to read this story if I knew that it would be centred around Cancer, however I stuck with it and in some respects I am glad that I did as it was a good story, very well written and the author did do well with writing some of the harder emotional/heartfelt scenes I thought. I wanted to like this story a lot more than I did but given the above points, it just wasn’t for me.

Having read other reviews of this book, I’m glad to see that I am in the minority and that plenty of readers did indeed enjoy this story.

This book was good but I was under the impression it was going to be a thriller and it is not that. Without that mindset, I enjoyed reading and unveiling the family dynamics here and the relationships that make the characters who they are.

This family drama pulled me in immediately. The story is compelling, emotional and heartbreaking. This is an exploration of how secrets and lies can shape and fracture family dynamics. The characters are complex and with issues and damage that penetrate every element of this intriguing plot. Entertaining, heart wrenching, and tense describe this addictive drama. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my copy.

i still can't believe how good this one was! perfect plot, keeps you on the edge and wanting more and more. i hope to read more books by this author soon because i adored it.

From the cover and the description I was expecting a story that would appeal to those wanting an easy holiday read.
It was a good read, but not an easy going holiday read. It was a bit of a slow burner and failed to reel me in immediately. However, this was worth sticking with as the plot thickens with a handful of twists and secrets being revealed in the second half.

Such a shame but I just couldn't connect with this book. I absolutely loved the sound of the storyline and assumed it would be a kind of thriller but sadly it all fell a bit flat for me. There are some really good reviews for this book so its worth a read but sadly not for me.

Thank you Netgalley.

A great read by this author. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Nora is a selfish mother who doesn’t have the greatest relationship with either of her daughters. She tells them both she would like them and their families to have a family Villa that she has booked. Quite begrudgingly Emma and Libby agree. Whilst on holiday Nora makes an announcement that distresses both girls; especially in the way she plans to resolve the ‘problem’. Add into the mix an affair with Libby’s partner and there are fireworks. However, Connor is aware of the contents of Nora’s notebook that she takes everywhere with her. After her death he shares the contents of the notebook which is a diary of her youth and explains why she was the type of mother she was.

This was not the story I first thought it would be but despite this it was still a good read. When their mother gathers the family together for a holiday she has bad news, stomach cancer. The family must face how their mother wants to live the final days

Nora and her daughters go on holiday to France with their families. But Nora has been keeping a secret and this is the perfect opportunity to reveal the truth. Are they all brave enough to deal with the consequences....?
The Villa is a family drama novel based in a French villa.
Nora has some devastating news as well as secrets from the past but is determined to finally tell her daughters Libby and Emma the truth. The relationships between the women is explored intensely. Things have been strained between them for a long time but the love is never in doubt. The daughters' husbands throw another dynamic into the drama and adds to the tension.
The pace of the book is quite slow especially at the beginning. The book is written from multiple perspectives and this shows their reactions to the plot developments as well as showing us angles that other characters are not aware of. Nora backtracks and tells her daughters different things so each needs to unravel the truth.
Each of the three women has different vulnerabilities and their personalities are clearly defined through the multiple perspectives. Their unhappiness is portrayed realistically and there is plenty of emotion as the plot progresses. There are twists but these are sad rather than surprising. Nora's first person perspective is achingly vulnerable and raw.
The Villa is an enjoyable but emotional novel about love within a family and all the dramas that lead from those relationships.